Yay for Helio and Julianne

I was happy with the Dancing With the Stars results. Although I really liked Mel's dancing (she was fantastic) I think it is more impressive for someone with no dancing background to do as well as Helio did. And he is just so adorable to watch! He was like a little boy on Christmas morning. Julianne is so cute; and now she's a back-to-back champ.

It seems very strange to be doing "the usual" things. I have thoughts of Joe in the back of my mind all day, and am not sleeping well. I'm very worried for F because it hasn't "hit" him yet. He says he is ok and that he has come to terms with the loss. I know he is strong but I'm afraid that the reality is going to take him by surprise.

I'm also not sure about how C is doing. He says he's ok (very much like his dad!) but I know he really doesn't want to go to the services. I think he is going to make an offer to watch D's youngest son at the house during the graveside services.

I wish Friday was over with.

Joe

It still hasn't sunk in. We got the call Sunday morning about the accident. F had to go to work for a bit but we headed out to JT in the early afternoon. FIL & MIL are heartbroken, although MIL is holding it together for the family. I stayed the night with D so she wasn't alone. I don't know if I was much comfort for her, but at least there was someone to listen to her and cry with her. The services are on Friday.

"Black" Friday

Happy Day After Thanksgiving! I am sitting here at home, thinking about all those silly people out shopping in the crowds. Yeah, they're getting a bunch of great deals, but I'm cozy at home. According to the news story that was just on, there is going to be a "strike" against the shopping frenzy, today at noon. Of course, by then everyone will be done with their shopping!

We had a nice, somewhat quiet Thanksgiving. The kids went to visit P's family in Phoenix, and F & I went to his parent's place. There ended up only being 8 for dinner. My brother-in-law (son #2) cooked the turkey and stuffing (and it was quite delicious, too). We brought pies that F had bought at work (the commissary sells them each year). BIL (son #5) was also there. His wife came by for a few minutes, but the youngest was sick, so they didn't stay. It was nice to see her again; maybe next time we'll actually get a chance to spend some time together. And then there was SIL and her daughter (who is getting so tall - she's 3-1/2 now). F, of course, had a blast playing with the little one. He even stood on his head for her! We were there about 6-1/2 hours or so, which I guess isn't bad.

My McDonald's Mystery

Went to McDonald's for dinner and ordered my usual filet-o-fish meal. Got home and opened the bag. Inside was my fries, and the double cheeseburger for the dog. Instead of a blue fish package, there was a brown "Big-N-Tasty" burger package. Inside that was a Big Mac. At least they got the fudge sundae right!

Dancing With The Stars

Down to the final four couples, and they all did really, really well last night. The dancing has really improved over the past few weeks. I'm still upset that Sabrina is gone since she should have won (she'll be on tonight as a "special guest"). I want Marie to win, but that's just leftover Puppy Love for her brother. I want Jennie to win because she has worked really hard for it. I want Helio to win because he has such a great attitude. I want Mel to win because she's the best of the four.

Needless to say, they are all doing fantastically well, but I think it is Marie's time to go tonight. And as much as I'd like to see Julianne and Derek have a sibling dance-off, I think the Final Two should be the teams of Helio/Julianne and Mel/Maks. Which means I am probably completely off and the Final Two will be Jenny and Marie!


***UPDATE: Marie, Helio and Mel are going to the finals - Jenny was voted out.

My New "Pet"

I'd like you to meet my new "pet", Harvey the Hamster. He is a very curious little guy and will watch the cursor when you move it near him. He'll even play on his wheel if you "click" on him! And see if you can feed him a strawberry ...

Survivor Update

So, last night the tribe was again divided into 2 teams for the reward challenge. The challenge was to bounce a rubber ball on drums through an "obstacle" course; the first team to get 3 balls through the course wins. Well, my new guy, Todd, and S's guy, James, were on the same team. Unfortunately. They weren't able to successfully transport one ball, let alone three. *sigh*

Immunity was decided by having to stab a knife through picture cards in a particular order. Four of the contestants elected to sit out the challenge and eat burgers and fries (James ate SEVEN! burgers). Pei Ghee won, and of course she needed to. So, they voted Frosti out. I felt bad for him; don't think he really expected it and they should have gotten rid of Courtney The Stick instead.

So - the score is now: S = $5.25 Me = $3.75

Refund Surprise

Wow - imagine my surprise when I checked the bank account today and found that we've been refunded the $60 for the unauthorized deductions! I really didn't expect to get the money back without a fight and am very happy that it is over with. Well, maybe not - we're waiting on the bank to verify how many times the deduction had been taken (the online records only go back six months). If there are any additional charges, I'll of course be calling them again. But in the meantime, I'm really glad that it was cleared up so quickly and easily!

How Cool!

So, F was going down the street to tell someone they left their truck lights on. Right after he told me this and went out the door, he was back, knocking and telling me to open the door quickly. He grabbed a flashlight and we went out to see the big owl that was in our tree. Unfortunately it had moved from where F had seen it, but when the flashlight beam passed over the tree, the owl flew from a different branch and over the house. It had a huge wingspan .... man, I wish I had gotten a picture of it!

Lots of Outgoing Mail

I've sent off more mail in the past two days than I've sent since I left Boyd! Let's see, a letter to Auntie L, a note to Emma, a check to the gardener, a sock to my Hogwarts partner (for repairs) and a Survivor shot glass to SusanS. Exciting news, huh? :-)

Caught in a Small Scam!

Apparently, we've been having $10 taken out of our checking account for at least the past 6 months without our authorization. Don't know how the company got our info, but I called them and they claim they'll be refunding the money. Have to check with the bank tomorrow and see if it goes back any more than the 6 months that show online. Sheesh. I know $10 isn't much, but it adds up, ya know?

Survivor was good last week, except that they voted off Jean-Robert. I mean, I wanted him to go, but now I have to pick a new person. Haven't decided who I want yet, since S has my second choice. Both J-R and James were part of the group that won the reward, so neither of us owe $$ for that, but now I owe because J-R was voted out. *sigh* And my penalty has gone up to $.75 for each loss from now on ...

S - $3.75 Me - $2.00

Monday Evening

I know, some of my post titles are not only boring, but quite obvious. Oh well, that's just me and you'll have to live with it (or not).

It's been a rather uneventful few days. F and I had dinner on Saturday with Dad and J (they leave on Wednesday for a Canada visit, and tomorrow is Dad's birthday. We had a nice visit and a good dinner at an Italian restaurant. In fact, I just had my leftover lasagne for dinner tonight. S&R were hosting a bachelor and bachelorette party (two separate parties) for some friends and C&P attended. They helped out at the wedding (decorating and setting up the food and stuff) so were invited to the parties. Actually, I was invited to the bachelorette party too, but figured it was more important to see Dad & J before they leave. I'll have to remember to call tomorrow for the "official" birthday wishes.

F did some work in the front yard on Saturday, too, and the place looks really nice. If we can just get rid of a couple of extra vehicles ...

Survivor was very good on Thursday. S has chosen James as her new winner. Jaime found the wood block, and she and Erik figured it was the immunity idol. While the others were out and about, they went through James' bag and discovered that he had similar blocks hidden in the legs of his jeans. S and I were very worried, because we figured they'd take the real two and leave James with the fake. Boy, was Jaime surprised when she gave the idol to Jeff at Tribal Council and he threw it into the fire! She ended up getting voted out ... and serves her right! Since they only had one challenge (they merged instead of having a reward challenge) and neither James nor Jean-Robert won immunity, we both have to put money in the jar. Our totals are now: S = $3.75 Me = $1.50

Best. Sock. Partner. EVER!

I received my package from the Hogwarts Sock Swap II today, and it was a wonderful box full of goodies! The socks are absolutely gorgeous and a perfect fit. The Other Morgana also made me a beautiful sock-inspired book mark (to save my place in the two books she sent - "Yarn Harlot" and "Knitting Rules"). There is a "punkin" bag full of Reeses PB cups, a skein of Baby Ull yarn, a set of Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs, size 6, and some Hufflepuff stitch markers. WOW! I've posted additional pics on Flickr (see the link to the right). Thank you thank you thank you, Lisa!!